When I was seven years old and I first saw Star Wars in
the theater I had a revelation. While some kids wanted to
be Luke Skywalker or Han Solo, I wanted to be George Lucas.
I realized that someone created that world that I enjoyed
so much and I wanted to be that guy. Ever since then I’ve
followed sci-fi and fantasy, not only with wild geek-boy
abandon, but with the critical eye of a creator.

I just saw the
latest Star Trek film, Nemesis, and I’ve had another
revelation. The sci-fi franchises that I’ve grown
up with are showing their age. Someone recently asked me
a question in this regard. She wondered if I had never seen
the first three Star Wars films, and sat down today to watch
them for the first time, whether I would revere them as
much now. My answer to that question is yes.

The first three
Star Wars films were infused with actors and scripts that
were compelling. The first three Star Wars films had plenty
of revolutionary effects, but it was the story and characters
that drove those films to become the juggernaut that they
are today. While Episode Two was far better than Episode
One, we’re just going through the paces now. The punchy
dialogue, charismatic characters and emotional plot are
replaced with digital indifference. Ewan McGreggor and Samuel
L. Jackson are two of the finest actors we have today, but
they are reduced to reading lines like a newscaster off
a teleprompter. The guy who is supposed to be driving these
films, Hayden Christianson, is such a piece of wood that
no one will really care when he turns into Darth Vader.
In fact it will be a relief, because we’ll get to
see the baddest costume in the galaxy and large scale Jedi
death scenes!

Star Trek has
been around since before I was alive and has become a franchise
on a par with Disney’s creations. Actually, that’s
part of the problem. Star Trek has embraced the same philosophy
that makes Disney properties so boring. They’re too
afraid to offend anyone and they don’t want to risk
changing anything for fear of losing their audience (and
money). Disney and Trek have a built in audience that will
consume anything that is thrown at them. When you have books,
comics, TV shows, films, video games and a hotel to support,
you don’t want to rock the boat.

Nemesis was
a wandering nightmare with better-than-average production
design and cinematography, but less-than-average writing
and direction. There’s no reason for anyone who is
not a Trekkie to see this film, it was clearly made with
them in mind. There’s a wedding and a “death”
of a major character, but who cares? The script for this
film must have been written on toilet paper and either taped
together or flushed at will, depending on the whims of the
producer, and Nemesis was the best of all the Next Generation
films!

So, am I proclaiming
the death of Star Wars and Star Trek? No. I’ll still
see Episode Three the first night it comes out and I watch
Enterprise when I can, but it’s mostly for nostalgia.
Actually Enterprise is the best of all the Star Trek series,
but you wouldn’t know it from the ratings. While these
franchises will continue to make money, what happens when
their built-in audience grows up or moves on? They certainly
aren’t offering anything that will create a new generation
of fans.

While the old
dogs are looking pretty gray, there’s plenty to be
excited about in geekdom. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
is fantastic. Here’s a property that was made with
the flourish that Lucas possessed when he made the first
three Star Wars films. Who green-lighted a three-part epic
fantasy film, directed by a guy whose greatest film was
The Frighteners, and would be shot consecutively and each
released a year apart? No one has ever done that with an
unproven property and I question if it will ever be done
again, but just look at the results. The first two Lord
of the Rings movies are a critical and box office success.
The films are seamless, emotional, revolutionary and inspirational,
just like good fantasy should be.

The television
landscape is far more friendly to sci-fi and fantasy than
at any time in the past. It remains to be seen, but the
two new Matrix films have a lot of promise. Sci-fi and fantasy
animation is in an explosion, thanks in no small part to
the Cartoon Network and their dedication to bringing good
stuff from overseas and creating new programs for us.

I think if you’re
a fan of the genre, you have to give some recognition to
Star Trek and Star Wars despite the fact they have lost
their luster. If they hadn’t made truckloads of cash
on those properties, the good stuff we’re getting
today wouldn’t even get past the first money-cruncher
in Hollywood. We’d still be getting television like
Buck Rogers or movies like Flash Gordon (and porn like Flesh
Gordon) instead of Farscape and The Matrix. Sci-fi and fantasy
makes money if it’s good, and sometimes if it isn’t.
That means the sharks are willing to take the risk on something
like Lord of the Rings and we all benefit from that.